The present invention relates to a vehicle wheel and pneumatic tire assembly, including a tire which essentially comprises rubber or rubber-like synthetic material, and a rigid rim, which on the radially inner periphery of the rim ring has seating surfaces for the tire, from which the tire walls initially extend essentially horizontally outwardly; on the radially outer periphery, the rim ring is provided with support surfaces for supporting the tire during an emergency operation.
A vehicle wheel of this general type is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,647, issued on Oct. 11, 1983 to the assignee of the present application. Such a vehicle wheel has proven itself to the extent that when pressure is lost due to a blow out, etc., the tire can still be driven over a considerable distance without permanently damaging the tire.
However, when such a wheel is used on heavy vehicles, for example trucks or armored military vehicles, when air pressure is lost the friction between the tire and the rim may be so little that the rim turns within the tire, so that a driving force cannot be transmitted to the tire, and hence to the ground or roadway.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle wheel and pneumatic tire assembly of the aforementioned general type which eliminates the described difficulties.